Ingot mold sprayer



l Oct. 23, 1945. J. w. STEWART INGoT MOLD SPRAYER Filed April l5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l FISE- Oct. 23, 1945.' J. w. STEWART l 2,387,362 INeoT MOLDy SPIRAYER w Filed April 15, 1944 2 sheets-sneek reaoadoeezams- Jn.1esW.S

tewariLDonora, asslgnorto'nie American Steeland Whom Company of New Jersey,acorporationofNewJer'leyv Application Api-u 15, im. sei-in No. 531,152

The present invention relates to tures oi' construction and arrangement of the .component parts of an air-driven sprayer adapted toapplya coatingottarortheliketo the interior wallofaningotmoldcavi It is broadly old to provide apparatus for centritugally throwing tar or similar coating material Y l against the walls of an ingot mold, but prior art devices usually include an electric drivingmotor and electrically operated actuating means for conf trolling the outilow of tar or like coating material.

One s'uch known tar sprayer is shown in Hadley Patent No. 2,151,100. The niotor of the Hadley apparatus is enclosedin a top casing of considerably larger size'than -the portion which enters the lnold,.and the enlarged casing is in a 'location which obstructs the view of an overhead crane operator who spots the apparatusiver the molds tombe sprayed. My present invention is an improvement over the apparatus shown in the Hadley patent, and aims to provide an arrangement in which the perators view will not be obstructed,l

and also to provide a rugged air-actuated means for rotating the outwardly. -V l A further object ofthe invention is to provide a streamlined structural arrangement in the nature of an elongated tubular reservoir having a, suspension bale at the top and a head at the bottom having a bullet-like nose for guiding the appalratus into an ingot mold, the head being spaced from the reservoirby a plurality of longitudinally-extending rods to thus provide an outlet space between th'e lower end of the reservoir and the head `in which space the impeller is located.

The above and other characteristic features of the invention will be more fully apparent from consideration ofthe following detailed disclosure,

the accompanying drawings, and the appended 4o claims. In'the drawings:

imponer which throws the tar comme. (caza-'ssi speeiie feenieiavviuiiirim;uiieeurea'ioalunni;having a swivel shrink Il passing freely through a hole formed in the top of a bail-like U-shaped member 2l. The lower extremities of the legs of the member 2l project into a tubular reservoir 12. said legs being welded thereto,'as shown. 'I'he reservoir 22 is in the nature o! an elongated tube or casing having a bottom plate 24 secured near its lower extremity by a welded seam 26.

Welded to the lower portion of the reservoir 22 are a'plurality of rods 2l whose lower extremities 20 are secured to a head 32, the assembly being such that there is an open space 3l between the lower. extremity of the reservoir 22 andthe head 32.. The reservoir is adapted to besubstantially filled with a body of tar or equivalent coating material with which it is desired to coat the interior face 3i o! an ingot mold Il.

Located axially ofthe bottom plate 24 is la tting lli having an outlet orifice l2 therein. The discharge of coating material from the reservoir through the oriflce I2 is under control of a valve M seemed to a valve-operating rod 4B whose upper end is connected by a coupling I8 with a stem 50 depending from a piston S2 located within a cylinder 5I having a cap 5I closing its upper end. A

springt! bears at one end against the capl and .l2 connected withthe cylinder M' and another branch 64 extending downwardly along the side Figure 1,. is a vertical'section illustrating .the

.I improved appa tus in the a-ct of applying tar to the interior of x ipgot mold.

Figure 2 is an enlargedl view in central longitudinal section oi the lower part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.-

Fisure a is e similar view of the upper portion ofthe apparatus.V f y y Figure 4 is a horizontal section on lin IV-IV Referring in deieii io ine drawingeio neore-V wall of the reservoir 22.' The lower end oi' the branch 64 is bent laterally,v as indicated at i6.

so as to direct a jet o! air against propeller vanes 68 formed on the under-side of an impeller lll the upper face of which is equipped with a plurality of tar-throwing distributor vanes l2. The impeller is secured .to a stub shaft 1I mounted in antifriction bearings 16 carried by a sleeve 1l welded orotherwise secured to the head 32, the

lower extremity of the sleeve being closed by a cover plate secured by screws 82 to the lower face of the head. A suitable ball-type checkvalvefltting 84 is screwedv into the wall of the sleeve 18 so as toprovide for the introduction of grease or similar lubricant to insure smooth action of ,the impeller.` A substantially parabolic or bullet-like nose 86 is'secured vto thehead' 32 by means of screws 8i!V or other suitable fastening' devices. The rounded tapering contour f 4 of the nose 86 facilitates entry of the apparatus into the mold cavity, and also-protects-the iinpeller and related coacting portions of the apparatus. The several rods 28 secured to the exterior of the lower-end of 'the cylinder 22 form a cage-like protective structure for the impeller which is of rugged construction and streamlined design adapted to effectively guide the device into the mouth of the mold cavity.

For maintaining the tar or similar coating material in proper fluid condition, in some cases l provide a steam coil 9|! whose inlet end 92 is connected with a suitable steam` supply and whose outlet end 94 teijminates in the peripheral region of the distributor vanes 12.

In the normal operation of the device, air' is.

admitted to the pipe 6l! throughra flexible hose 6|),a under control of a valve 6|)b operated by a workman at about the ground level of the ingots to be coated, the hose'being connected with a suitable source of compressed air (not shown).

' When the valve Gilb is manually opened,` the air pressure lifts the piston 52 against the action' of thespring 58,-thus lifting the valve M and permitting the tar to flow outwardly through the orifice -42 and to' be discharged in the central or axial region of the impeller l0, as suggested by the arrows in- Figure 2. 'I'he impeller is driven by the jet of air emanating from the bent portion 66 of the branch pipe IL'this air jet impinging on the propeller vanes 68, thereby causing a high-speed rotation of the impeller.

It is obvious that the rotary action of the impeller will cause the vanes 12 to throw the tar outwardly with considerable force through the space between thelower extremity of the reservoir 22 and the head 32, thus distributing the tar on the inner face 36 of the ingot mold 38. While the tar is thus being centrifugally thrown outwardly, the entire apparatus will be pulled upwardly under control of, the operator stationed on the overhead crane. During this upward travel of the device, another operator on the ground pulls on the hose 60, thus imparting a partial turning movement to the entire apparatus, this being permitted by the bale-like swivel suspension devices above described.

Upon complete withdrawal of the device from a given mold which has been coated, the crane operator then moves on to the next mold and spots lthe device thereover. He then pays out the cable or chain, thus lowering the apparatus into another mold. During such lowering it willv be understood that the bullet-like nose 86 serves as a guide to facilitate the entry of the apparatus into the mold cavity. It will also be apparent that the design and construction of the parts are such that the operator on the crane will not have his vision obstructed by any of the structure of the coating device. Thus there is less likelihood of damaging the device than is the case when using prior art devices.

Having thus described my invention and the preferred practicalmeans for making it available. what I desire to protect by Letters Patent is dened with particularlty to meet the requirements of the claims.

I claim: Y

1. A sprayer for coating the interior of` an ingot mold cavity. comprising an' elongated respatent statutes Ain Lthe renewing ervoir for coating material, a head spaced from the lower extremity thereof, an impeller rotatably mounted between the reservoir and said head, said impeller having distributor vanes on one face adapted to throw coating material outwardly and propeller vanes on its other face,

means for impinging a uid against said propeller vanes soA as to rotate the impeller, and means .for delivering a controlled quantity of coating material from the reservoir to the central axial region of the impeller.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, 4further characterized in that said delivering means includes an axial outlet orifice in the lower part of said reservoir. a valve controlling the now of coating material through said orifice, and air-operated' means for actuating said valve.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized in that said delivering means includes an axial outlet orice in the lower part of said resated valvev-actuating means comprising a piston having an extension rod disposed axially of the reservoir for controlling the flow through the axial orice in the bottom thereof.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized in that a baillike suspension member is secured to the upper portion of the reservoir to.

facilitate lifting and lowering the apparatus relatively to an ingot mold to be coated, the said head having a bullet-like nose secured thereto for guiding the apparatus'into an ingot mold and being connected to the lower portion of the reservoir by a plurality of rods which serve to space the head from the lower extremity of the reservoir, thus providing a space between the two through which the coating material is adapted to be thrown outwardly by the' rotary action of 'Y said distributor vanes. Y'

'6. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized in that a bail-like suspension member is secured to the upperportion of the reservoir to facilitate lifting and lowering the apparatus relatively to an ingot mold to be' coated, the said head having a bullet-like nose secured thereto for guiding the apparatus into an ingot mold andbeing connected to the lower portion of the reservoir by a plurality of rods which serve to space the head from the lower extremity of the reservoir, thus providing a space between the -two through which the coating material is adapted to lbe thrown outwardly by the rotary action of said distributor vanes, the said head including a top plate supporting a tubular sleeve carrying. antifriction bearings and the impeller having a stub shaft supported by said bearings.

` JAMES w. STEWART.

further charac- 

